In the prior art, as an apparatus of this kind, a slat conveyor as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-157641 is provided, for example. In this conventional composition, a plurality of slats are provided between a pair of right and left chains, and guided members (pin and guide rollers) are provided on the rear face of pressing chains which are guided by these slats. A group of guide bodies for guiding the guided members and diagonally acting switching means disposed on a branching section of this group of guide bodes. The diagonally acting switching means is constituted in such a manner that it causes a diagonally action transfer tool to operate in the lateral direction of the conveyor by means of a diagonal action air cylinder, pins being guided by guide faces formed on the diagonal action transfer tool, in such a manner that they are directed by a main guide and a diagonal action branching guide.
However, according to the conventional composition described above, since the composition is such that a diagonal action transfer tool is connected directly to the piston rod of a diagonal action air cylinder, then it is necessary to provide a valve and air piping in order to operate the switching of the diagonal action air cylinder, the section of the diagonal action switching means becomes complicated, and furthermore, it increases in size. Moreover, since the system is activated by means of the flow of air created by switching a valve, there are limitations on the degree to which the response time can be shortened.
Furthermore, according to the prior art composition described above, since the composition is such that a diagonal transfer tool is connected directly to the piston rod of a diagonal action air cylinder, noise is generated when the diagonal transfer tool is operated in the lateral direction of the conveyor, by means of the diagonal action air cylinder, in other words, when the diagonal action transfer tool is operated in the lateral direction of the conveyor. On the other hand, this can be resolved by providing rubber cushions on a positioning member which confronts the diagonal action transfer tool. However, if the conveyance and branching is to be carried out at high speed, then it becomes necessary to provide a large number of rubber cushions, in accordance with the high-speed switching of the diagonal action transfer tool, and consequently, the position of the diagonal action transfer tool becomes irregular, depending on the amount of deformation of the rubber cushion, and hence a step difference arises between the guide surfaces and smooth guiding of the guided members is not possible.